Carver Nations High School began as two separate schools that shared a common building. All Nations Diversity Program (ANDP) was created by a Latina woman to primarily serve immigrant and refugee youth who were not being properly served by the traditional public school system. This school occupied the top two floors of the four- story building. The bottom two floors housed the Carver Vocational High School (CVHS) which was primarily staffed by African- American teachers (including the principal) and almost exclusively attended by African- American students. It is one of only three vocational schools in Washington, D.C.

As the "immigrant and refugee population in Washington, D.C. grew, the enrollment at ANDP ballooned beyond the capacity of the two floors. Conversely, the enrollment at Carver Vocational was decreasing rapidly. With increasing enrollment at ANDP and decreasing enrollment at CVHS, the superintendent and school board decided to merge the two schools. Thus, Carver Nations High School was formed. All of the teachers who wanted to remain as part of the "new" school were welcomed to stay. However, in order to allow the school to start "fresh", both principals were transferred to other schools and you were hired as principal for the new school.

On the surface, this consolidation appeared to be smooth and free from major problems. However, given some of the history between African- Americans and Latinos in the community and the previous schools, this was not the case. What was accepted as growth and expansion by the All Nations staff and students was interpreted as a hostile takeover by the Carver staff and students.

Carlos Sanchez is the current English/ESL (English as a Second Language) department chairman.  He held this position for eight years in the former All Nations High School.  As department chair, he is accredited for an outstanding ESL program that is known throughout the district.  Because of this, Mr. Sanchez is held in very high esteem by the Latino students and parents.  In addition to his department chairmanship, Mr. Sanchez is also advisor to the school's award winning newspaper and the first place debate team.

Kim William's is the chairman of the Fashion Design department.  She worked at Carver Vocational for three years prior to the merger.  Due to the nature of her program, Ms. William's was one of the most popular teachers and maintained the second largest enrollment which continued after the merger.  Kim came to Carver Vocational after graduating from the Fashion Institute in New York.  She has worked with many of the fashion design students by annually coordinating 7th Avenue style fashion shows, designing and making the costumes for various theater productions, and helping interested girls to design and make their own prom gowns which were always guaranteed to be "show stoppers."

Carlos and Kim began to develop a friendship because they shared the same lunch duty schedule. They both lived about fifteen miles from the school in Maryland. Since parking was scarce, they decided to car pool with each other taking turns weekly driving to school.

The day after spring break, Carlos, Kim, and several other teachers were eating their lunch in the teachers' lounge. As the lunch period was ending, Kim got up from the table and reached for her tupperware containers in front of her. As did that, her loose fitting watch slipped down around her wrist revealing that she had tanned several shades during her spring break trip to Cancun.  Seeing this, Carlos jokingly commented, "Kim, you better stay out of that sun or else you will soon be black as a nigger." An eerie silence fell over the teachers' lounge and all eyes were now on the two awaiting Kim's response. Visibly stunned, Kim stood frozen repeating "Carlos...I can't believe you said that...I can't believe you said that." Kim then ran out of the teachers' lounge with Carlos following behind her pleading, "I'm sorry Kim...I'm so sorry...I didn't mean anything by it, honestly! My friends say that to each other all the time!!" The comment made veryone around the table cringe because it brought out skin color issues in the public, which was certainly a no-no in both communities.

Before the next period ended, news of the incident circulated the building. Carlos feverishly tried to speak privately with Kim, but none of the teachers who were with her allowed him to do so. As it turned out, there were supporters on both sides of the incident, and they were split across racial lines as well. Many who knew Carlos, both African American and Latino, believed he intended no harm in the comment and was merely joking around. They intended to demonstrate their cdommitment and support of him, thus planned to take action accordingly. However, there was also a strong group of people who said that no matter what the intention, Carlos' statement was still racist and felt that action needed to be taken to set an example that no racist comments would be tolerated under any circumstances. The group was planning to rally the support of the Teacher's Union immediately.

Fortunately, the students were dismissed without incident but not without becoming aware of the lunchtime incident. Within an hour after dismissal the school phones were "ringing off the hook." The Teacher's Union president called an emergency meeting that evening. The members present tried to convince Kim to pursue a formal complaint, as a result a letter was drafted and submitted to you from the Teacher's Union demanding Carlos' immediate transfer from the school. Some parents agreed with the Teachers' Union's proposal to have Carlos removed from the school. Others supported Carlos and felt that the school could not afford to lose him, therefore, they demanded that he not be forced to leave his well-respected position. Obviously, there is a conflict to be resolved. The Superintendent calls you that evening and requests that you have a description of the incident and your decision on how you are going to handle it on her desk by tomorrow morning.
 

Questions:

1. How will you proceed?
2. How is it possible to address the needs of both parties?
3. What are the underlying issues here?
4. What other options exist that do not appear to have been selected yet?